


Years of Zombie Apocalypse Love

by oneisforsorrow



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Twins, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, M/M, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-27 05:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2681006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneisforsorrow/pseuds/oneisforsorrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The dead have risen and are beginning to take over the earth, converting and infecting every human. Richard and Severin have found themselves alone and without their twins, but find comfort with each other. Their love begins to blossom during a series of cold nights and days spent shooting zombies</p>
            </blockquote>





	Years of Zombie Apocalypse Love

**Author's Note:**

> For moriartymakinitrainpresents over on tumblr who requested a Severich zombie apocalypse ficlet. This was only going to be about 500 words and then this happened. Anyway, enjoy! 
> 
> (And also you can send severich/mormor prompts and AU requests to my tumblr reindeeriarty)

“Wait! Don’t shoot! I’m not one of them!”

 

Severin lowered his gun and removed his finger from the trigger. It was his instant reaction now to shoot everything in sight. Luckily, this man had just been quick enough to call out.

 

He was small and scrawny, his hair dark, his skin pale. Perhaps that’s why Severin had been so quick to assume that he was one of the monsters. But the eyes gave it away. They weren’t white and hollow; they were brown, a gorgeous shade that was so dark that you might mistake them for being black.

 

 “What’s your name?” Severin asked gruffly, slinging his gun back over his shoulder and taking two slow steps towards the man.

“Richard. Richard Brook,” he replied, running a hand through his now matted brown hair.

“You got a weapon?”

Richard shook his head. “Used to. Lost it.”

Severin sighed, going into the bag that he carried and pulled out a small pistol.

“Know how to fire one of these?”

Richard nodded. His brother had showed him before... before...

“I’m Severin Moran, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you...” Richard mumbled, checking the gun over before reaching to put it away in the pouch he kept around his waist.

“I’d keep that out and ready if I were you,” said Severin as he watched him. “Never know when one of them is going to come out at you.”

“Right...”

Severin sighed once more. “What’s up?”

“What the hell do you think?” Richard snapped at him. “I’ve lost my family; I don’t know where I am; I’m tired, hungry and injured.”

Giving him a look of pity, Severin rested a hand on Richard’s shoulder.

“You and me both, kid.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty four.”

“Thought you were seventeen or something.”

“Well, I’m not. How old are you then?”

“Twenty seven.”

“Thought you were thirty five,” Richard said, before adding with a little smirk, “Or something.”

“Not sure that’s a compliment.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be.”

 

Then, in spite of everything, they were laughing. It was the first time either of them had really done that since the rising had begun.

 

But they quickly stopped when they heard the sound of footsteps close by them. Severin dragged Richard into an alleyway, telling him to stay absolutely still. He poked his head out around to look out and spotted it. One of the creatures. The undead. The zombies. It was making its way through the rubble, its movements slow and sluggish. The zombie hadn’t seemed to have noticed them, which made it easier for Severin to blow its head off. Richard used to wince at the sound of a gun, but not anymore. It was something he heard too often to be afraid of. And there were much scarier things to fear.

 

“Any more out there?” he asked quietly, moving up beside Severin and looking out himself. The area seemed to be empty now.

“Don’t think so. Come on, I know there’s a safe house not far from here. We can stay there until...”

“Until it’s not a safe house anymore,” Richard finished off.

“Right, yeah. Let’s go.”

 

Cautiously, Severin stepped out, looking left and right to make sure there were no threats. He moved forward slowly at first, then began to quicken his pace, occasionally looking back to see that Richard was still following.

 

“So, um... are you looking for somebody? Your parents or your girlfriend or...?”

Richard let out a little laugh. “Girlfriend? No, no, I’m looking for my brother. Well, I was...”

“What happened?”

“Found him...” Richard replied, voice lowering and cracking before he next spoke.”Shot him, too.”

“Oh, Richard, I’m sorry.”

“It’s just what happens isn’t it?” he sniffed, wiping away any tears from his eyes before they could fall. “What about you?”

“I don’t have anybody. ‘S just me.”

“You don’t have any family?”

“I did. Not anymore.”

 

Richard knew what that meant and didn’t question it further. It was rare to find anybody who hadn’t lost at least one member of their family to the creatures. But most people had somebody. Not them though.

 

They reached the safe house within an hour, blasting holes in the zombies as they went along. Richard took out three at once and Severin didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was impressed. Obviously Richard was more than he seemed.

 

The safe house itself was an abandoned warehouse, filled with bunks, hammocks, mattresses and lots of men, women and children. There was a handful of people who had taken charge, making an attempt to keep the place somewhat organized. Upon their arrival, they were shown to a bunk and Richard took off his pouch and threw it up onto the top bed which he then crawled up onto. Severin lay down on the bottom and began to rummage through his bag, checking that each of his few possessions was still there.

 

That night, when the light had faded and the people of the safe house had settled in their beds for an uneasy night of sleep, Richard got down from his bed to find out what was the source of the light that came from Severin’s bunk below. He saw that Severin had out an old metal lighter and had the flame illuminating a photo that he held in his hands.

 

“Is that you?” Richard asked quietly, sitting down on the edge of Severin’s bed.

Severin shook his head. “My brother.”

“You look so much like him.”

“He was my twin.”

“I had a twin.”

“You never said.”

“Weird coincidence, huh?”

“Yeah...”

“What happened to him?”

“Went into the special army when they first rose, to fight against them. And everyone knows what happened to all the first ones to sign up.”

“You never know, he might be-“

“It’s okay, Richard. I know what happened to him. I’ve accepted it.”

They fell into a sad silence, which only ended when Richard gave a little shiver.

“Cold?” Severin asked, looking concerned for him.

“Only a little bit.”

“You can stay with me tonight. If you want.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

 

Richard smiled slightly and shifted further up the bed so that he was lying beside Severin. There wasn’t a lot of space, so they couldn’t really get fussy about the intimacy of it. But really, everybody had stopped caring about things like that by now. There were more important things.

 

Richard hadn’t really expected Severin to hug him close, but he did and Richard had to admit to himself that he liked it. He felt safe like this. Safe and warm.

 

\--

 

They spent the next three years travelling together, moving between safe houses, spending many days and many nights just walking, killing the undead as they went. And every night since their first day, Richard would sleep beside Severin, in his bed, if they were lucky enough to have one, or wherever else they found themselves resting that night. In the beginning, it was just about sharing warmth. But then it was because they kept each other company in those freezing and fear filled nights, when an attack from the zombies could come at any time. They talked about the past, about their lives before the rising. Severin learnt all about Richard’s brother, Jim, about Richard’s career as an actor on the stage, about his old flat and the view he’d had of the river from the window in his bedroom. And, in return, Richard listened as Severin told him tales of the life he’d shared with his twin, Sebastian.

 

And then there were the nightmares. They both had them and would wake up screaming, beads of sweat on their foreheads, crying out for their brothers who weren’t there. When it happened, they would hold each other tightly, telling the other that all would be fine, until finally the shaking would subside and they would both fall asleep again.

 

But, after a few months of being with each other, it became about something else. Love. They had fallen head over heels for each other. How could they not? Severin was protective and handsome, loyal and brave, everything that Richard had always wanted. And Richard was gentle and patient, kind and loving and exactly what Severin had never known he’d needed.

 

-

 

They were on the move to a new safe house that Severin had located. It was two days since their last one had been taken over by the zombies. Light was fading fast and soon there were stars blazing in the sky above them.

 

“Jim used to talk about the stars. He loved them,” Richard said quietly as they walked, looking up. “He showed me the constellations, but I can’t remember them all now.”

 

Severin said nothing, but reached across to take Richard’s hand in his. It came as a bit of surprise to Richard, who turned to look at him with wide dark eyes, brow furrowed in confusion. Then his features softened once more and he looked down at their linked hands, giving a little sigh of happiness.

 

When they were too tired to carry on walking, Severin led them over to a grassy clearing where they could lie on their backs and look up at the sky.

“Severin?”

“Yeah?”

 

They looked at one another, before Richard very cautiously leaned across to kiss him on the mouth. Part of him didn’t expect Severin to kiss back, but he did. And for that moment, they almost forgot about the dangers and the fear, about their tiredness and their hunger. It was the first time anything had been perfect since everything had begun.

 

But, of course, nothing perfect could really last for long. They heard the sounds of groans and thudding footsteps and then they had to run for their lives.

 

-

 

They were at their newest safe house and Severin had lost track of which number this one was. It had been so long and they’d had to move so many times. But this place was one of the better ones; it was small, but with fewer people. They managed to get their own room together, even if they were crammed into one small bed. Not that they minded. It just meant they could be closer to one another.

 

It was there that they first made love. Severin looked after Richard, made sure he was comfortable and satisfied above all else. Richard had never felt so loved before and neither had Severin.

 

“I love you. Oh, Richard, I love you so much...” Severin had murmured over and over that night, kissing Richard’s gorgeous pale skin until it was flushed red.

 

When they were done, they relaxed against each other once more, completely breathless for a while. They fell asleep together, with Richard curled up in Severin’s arms, their legs tangled together beneath the thin blanket. Their peace didn’t last long, however, and soon the siren was blaring and they had to leave. They knew that the zombies were waiting for them and checked that their guns were loaded.

 

-

 

It was coming to the end of their third year together. They knew that the human race was losing the battle and that it surely couldn’t go on for much longer. So every night they held each other tight, huddled up in their tiny tent on the campsite that held almost every person left in the whole of the country. Most people were alone, having finally lost everybody they cared about. Richard and Severin would hear loud cries at night, pitiful wailing from the people who felt so hopeless and dead inside.

 

On Christmas day – though nobody really cared about Christmas anymore - Severin and Richard married in an unofficial ceremony, with some of their friends from the camp coming to watch. Nobody really cared about the lack of all the usual traditions, about the absence of a priest to marry them and the fact that they had no registrar to sign. It was just the two of them showing their love with a few vows and handmade rings made of scrap metal, which, in their eyes, were just as beautiful as any diamond encrusted band.

 

It helped everybody cheer up for a few days, reminded them that there was still a bit of light and hope left in the world. Richard was especially glad he could make people happy.

 

-

 

The final day came all too soon. They’d heard the reports on their tiny radios, knew that the US had fallen, that there was no way to kill off all the zombies, who would only continue to get stronger and convert more of the humans until nobody was left. And they all knew that the monsters were coming for them all in the camp. There was nowhere left to run or hide now.

 

Richard and Severin lay curled up beneath their blankets, keeping each other warm like they had done every night for the past few years. Severin was pressing soft kisses along his husband’s neck while Richard sang sweet lullabies in a soft, soothing voice.

 

“Severin, I think it’s time,” Richard said at last, looking straight into those beautiful blue eyes of Severin’s.

“You’re right,” Severin nodded sorrowfully, stroking back some of Richard’s dark hair away from his face. “I’m so glad I met you, Richard. I don’t know if I would have made it without you...”

“I don’t think I would have either. Thank you, Severin. Thank you so much for everything, my love.”

“I wish we could have had more time together.”

“Me too. But we’ll see each again really soon.”

“Yeah, we will.”

Severin rested their foreheads together and shut his eyes, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

“At the same time?” he asked, voice broken now.

“At the same time.”

Richard kissed him on the lips, before he reached for their two guns, pressing one into Severin’s hands.

“After three, okay?”

“Okay.”

Severin blinked his eyes opened so he could look into Richard’s for the very last time. Those big, gorgeous brown eyes.

 

“One,” he began, lifting the gun to his head and watched as Richard did the same.

 

“Two.”

 

“Three,” Richard finished.

 

“I love you.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

 

 

 

\--


End file.
